LaSeR

Hegel HD11, one of the best below 1100$.

Nice review , thanks Kelly !

Smoother on top, with better bass articulation... Well seem they transformed the 192 into a Nad M51......( but with dsd and a headphone jack).

Cant see the pics, but saw them on another post if they are the same.

Correction, the powercord connectors are Oyaide. ( the furutech copper are on my preamp pc). Here is the link from I bought it, the guy used to work for Bis Audio in the past. http://planabox.com/produits/ Scroll down to the AC prestige model into the cables section and click on details to know whats in it. Translate with google frch to eng. Trust me this PC is a steal considering the results I got with M51, and I have absolutely no link with the seller or slmethin to gain in suggesting this pc. The m51 is very picky with powercords, the difference that custom pc made over a Venom 3 pc was huuuge. One can acheive very competitive sound with m51 , only have to understand that they are two things that can be improoved. Usb input , an the ac in. On more costly Dacs , they put better power supply and usb implementations, so a better powercord and usb source will make for less differences.

Audiolink fuse with ceramic boby and gold plated copper contacts. Ifi iusb power. Audioquest coffee usb cable. Custom powercord with type11 furutech copper-only connectors and treated 12ga ofc copper cables. Shunyata zitron xlrs. Oyaide R1 ac receptacle with dedicated ac line. I know, the sum of those cost more than the dac itself.

Yeah , you re right. But I don t think the guy would enjoy coming to my home and me telling him I don t ear enough differences between my 1.5k M51 and his 18k dcs to justify the buy...lol

I have an opportunity on a used Puccini player, is it that good a player or my fully optimised Nad m51 is up to it ?

That would be very logical since Ayre amplifiers are a little bit on the "thin'' neutral side and very airy...presenting the highs with a little glare , so a more grounded physical dac like the qb9 dsd would add tonal density and body to the sound, and most probably would tame or balance the higher freqs...that must be why you are earing earthier guitar strings. Surely, Ayre must have geared their dac to get along with their other stuff.

Thanks for the response Kelly, very appreciated.

It seems there is a yellowtec puc lite for sale, so I guess the m51 will follow sooner or later. I would not write the on the lacks of the nad vs the Ayre if I were to sell it also.......

Already gave up on the qb9 dsd ?

You should use same xlr for boths. And same power cords. I am very surprised that on you headphone system the Ayre seems to have more resolution. Because M51 upsampling into the sky is one of the best I eard, and immensely detailed.

Best thing to do is directly compare on your main system with nad m51. I am very curious to know wich one is better between the 2. My feeling is the Nad will have more harmonic details ( try piano recordings for this) and more bass than the Ayre. As all Ayre equipment is a little shy on bass, its their neutral house sound. Will the Ayre be more punchy with better attack on midrange notes...better transcient weight? Because this is the Nad s con... a Iittle lack of transcient attack and body... Will the Ayre be more in your face , or more laid back tha the Nad. Sometimes I feel tha Nad is a little too laid back for my taste and I guess I would prefer the midrange to project more out of the speakers...

It makes the dac smell like bad wine. Seriously , all power supply transformers vibrate at 60 hz ( ac). So it induces noise i beleive. The nad has a switching ps though, i dont know if it vibrates like a linear ps transfo. Since i had the Nad, ive wondered if changing the switching ps for a linear one would make a noticeable difference in sound.